How are resurrection plants sometimes sold?

As novelty plants that revive in water

Resurrection Plant Quiz: Coming Back to Life After Drought

This resurrection plant quiz watches a brown, curled ball spring back to life with a splash of water. Play 10 interactive questions on Selaginella lepidophylla from the Chihuahuan Desert, curling into a ball when dry, losing most of its water, reopening within hours, protective sugars, the true rose of Jericho, the resurrection fern on oak branches and its flight into space.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Trait
What can resurrection plants survive?
Desert
Which desert is home to Selaginella lepidophylla?
Curl
What does it do when dry?
Water
How much water can it lose?
Speed
How quickly can it reopen after watering?
Sugars
What helps protect its cells while dry?
Jericho
What is the true rose of Jericho?
Fern
Where does the resurrection fern often grow?
Space
Where did resurrection fern travel in 1997?
Use
How are resurrection plants sometimes sold?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What can resurrection plants survive?
Answer: Drying out almost completely
They revive with water.
Q2: Which desert is home to Selaginella lepidophylla?
Answer: Chihuahuan Desert
It spans Mexico and the US.
Q3: What does it do when dry?
Answer: Curls into a tight ball
Inner fronds are protected.
Q4: How much water can it lose?
Answer: Most of its water
Most plants would die.
Q5: How quickly can it reopen after watering?
Answer: Within hours
It turns green again.
Q6: What helps protect its cells while dry?
Answer: Special sugars
They stabilize cell parts.
Q7: What is the true rose of Jericho?
Answer: Anastatica hierochuntica
It also curls when dry.
Q8: Where does the resurrection fern often grow?
Answer: On oak tree branches
It shrivels in drought.
Q9: Where did resurrection fern travel in 1997?
Answer: On the Space Shuttle
Scientists watched it revive in space.
Q10: How are resurrection plants sometimes sold?
Answer: As novelty plants that revive in water
They can be revived repeatedly.

Back From the Brink of Drought

Resurrection plants can lose most of their water and survive in a dry, seemingly dead state, then turn green again after rain. Selaginella lepidophylla from the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico and the United States curls into a tight brown ball when dry, protecting its inner fronds.

When watered, it unfurls and turns green within hours. Special sugars and proteins protect its cells while dry, keeping cell parts stable. Because it can be revived repeatedly, it is often sold as a novelty plant, sometimes called a false rose of Jericho. The true rose of Jericho, Anastatica hierochuntica, also curls when dry.

The resurrection fern grows on oak branches in the southeastern United States, shriveling in drought and spreading after rain. In 1997 it flew on the Space Shuttle, where scientists watched it revive in space. Researchers study these plants to help crops survive drought.

What This Quiz Teaches

Plant fans will enjoy these questions.

What resurrection plants can do
Which species are famous
How they protect cells
Where they grow
Why scientists study them

Did You Know?

Some mosses can do the same.
A few flowering plants revive too.
Dry plants can roll in wind.
Water must reach the roots.
Revival can be watched in a bowl.